by ERIN BEDFORD
I held back a snort and suppressed the urge to roll my eyes. Short and simple, huh? Let’s see what he thinks of this one.
“What is black and white but red all over?”
He didn’t even hesitate to answer. The fox was so sure of his answer. “A Cerberus.”
“A what?”
Alice jumped in, disappointment filling her voice. “A Cerberus is a large three headed dog –like creature that is red with black and white spots.”
I was pretty sure they were insane. No way, they were thinking the same creature I was thinking about. In Greek mythology, Cerberus was the guard dog of the Underworld and while it was indeed a three-headed dog, there was nowhere that said it was red with black and white spots. That would just be ridiculous.
“See! I’m right now you both have to stay.” Tick slammed the door to the clock shut with a snap, not caring if it broke or not. He stalked toward us, his body shimmering as his eyes bore into us like he was wondering what we tasted like. I’m sure I was delicious, but I wasn’t about to let him figure that out.
“Actually, you're wrong.” I smirked, stopping him in his tracks. It was a strange sort of satisfaction that filled my chest at telling someone who thought they knew everything they were wrong. It was almost as good as bunnies and rocky road ice cream. Almost.
“What? Wrong?” his body stopped shimmering. He shook his head like it was the most ludicrous thing he had ever heard. “I’m never wrong.”
“Ah, but you are.” I didn’t even try to hide the joy in my voice; I was so giddy I could have skipped. I wouldn’t but I could have.
“If it is not a Cerberus then what the blazes is it?” he threw his arms up in the air, his irritation at possibly being wrong seeming to build in his voice.
“The answer is a newspaper.”
“A newspaper?” he looked between us, bewilderment replacing his irritation. “What’s that?”
“It’s a paper you use to read the news. There are plenty of them in the human world.”
“You cheated. You can’t use riddles from different worlds.”
“Ah, but you never specified that at the beginning of the agreement.” I was feeling pretty proud of myself right then. “Now, we held up our end, it’s your turn to hold up yours.”
Anger covered his face, and then he adjusted his vest, his mouth forming a thin line along his jaw. “Very well, you win this one. Just give me a moment to change.”
The glimmering along his fur formed again and unlike a glamour that poured over us in a blink of an eye his transformation was a bit different. His legs and arms elongated. His fur flattened over to show smooth muscle beneath. His tail disappeared and his hair fell down to his waist in a long, fiery wave of orange. The ears on his head were traded out for pointed, Higher Fae ears and his muzzle was replaced with a strong jaw line and lips that made me want to bite them. He was still wearing his blue vest and tie, but now it seemed more obscene than adorable and luckily —or not so luckily, he had formed a pair of loose fitting pants on his lower half. The only cute thing about him now was his bare feet that wiggled on the carpet.
“If you look like this why stay in a fox form?” Alice asked, appreciation for his new look filling her eyes.
I couldn’t blame her. The fox named Tick was quite a fox himself. Suddenly, I had the urge to call a redo. Staying here with him didn’t seem like such a bad deal.
“That is my form, but those at the palace prefer my human one. Not all my kind can change like this, you know. Only those who have reached their hundredth birthday can.” He adjusted his tie and then he flipped his hair over his shoulder. “I have just celebrated my two hundred and fifth birthday. Changing form is nothing for someone like me.”
“Well, good for you.” I stopped gawking enough to put a little sass in my voice. “But we are kind of on a schedule, so if you wouldn’t mind.”
“Always in a hurry and so rude. Is she always like this?” He gave Alice a curious look and then when he caught her staring winked at her, making her giggle like a little school girl.
“Worse.”
Chapter 8
Losing Control
THE INSIDE OF the clock was not any different than the rest of the cave above. It was dark and covered with rough dirt walls. Thankfully, this time we didn’t have to rely on my magic to find where we were going. Tick had a whole light system set up along the sides of the cave, so that he could easily direct us further in. I just wished he would spend a little more time directing and a little less time flirting with Alice.
She had seemed to find a whole new liking to Tick in his new form. So much so that she continued to flirt and giggle as if we weren’t on our way to the Queen’s castle.
“So, why do you live down here?” Alice asked, walking beside the fox with her arms looped through his. He had become more of a gentleman once he realized he had been bested and couldn’t do anything about it. Some people know how to lose gracefully, some don’t. I was the latter.
“It’s not like it was my choice.” He snorted, sweeping his hands elaborately around us. “This would not be my first choice in homes if I had my way.”
“Then why don’t you move?”
I trailed behind them, letting them have their little moment. It wasn’t every day that Alice got to meet someone who didn’t want to blame her for everything. But since she still had the glamour on, we really didn’t know if he would be accepting of her or not. If he had been down here this whole time, he might not even know who she was or care.
“I would, darling, but it’s my job.” He patted her hand, with a sullen sigh. “Part of the job description requires me to be secluded from the outside world. The JubJub bird is supposed to keep visitors out.” He glared at me over his shoulder. “Bad things can happen when people think they can mess with my clocks.”
“What’s so special about them? They just keep time.” I thought back to his room full of clocks and wondered what mysterious power they had that required a guard bird like the JubJub.
“They are not just clocks!” Tick halted our procession, dropping Alice’s arm and turning to me. “I will have you know that I have a very important job, one that requires dedication and sacrifice. Not just anyone can be in charge of time. It is a difficult task that doesn’t allow for much outside interference. The fact that I am even taking time away from my duties to take you to the palace could have exponential consequences. Did you ever think of that?”
He gnashed his teeth at me, rage building on his face, and I felt my own anger respond, which in turn, caused my magic to flare to life.
“I’ll have you know.” I stalked toward him, shoving a finger at his chest. “While you may be the keeper of time, there are other people in this world that are doing just as important tasks.” I felt a sense of satisfaction as each poke to his chest, caused him to step backward. “Ones that require far more sacrifice than having to spend all of eternity winding damn clocks. Do you know how much pressure comes with being the savior? How many times I’ve wanted to just forget it all happened and turn my back on this place?” I waved my hands around me, the magic in my veins fueling my anger to extraordinary heights. It was like all the built up fear and denial had finally come to its tipping point and was spilling out all at once.
“Savior?” Tick stuttered, his eyes full of fear as he glanced at Alice and me. “You’re the savior? The Seelie Princess reincarnate?”
“What the hell have I been saying the last few minutes?” I threw my hands up in the air with a growl. My powers leaked out, causing the ground to shake around us. “Haven’t you heard? I’m dangerous.” I moved in close until our noses were almost touching. “I’m a loose cannon just waiting to go off.”
“But you’re a half-breed.” The moment the words left his mouth he realized his mistake, and he scrambled back from me, but there was nowhere to go. He was literally backed against a wall and at my mercy.
The power within me begged to b
e released, and instead of forcing it back down, I let it. I let it pour into the floor around me. Bright green plant life spread across the cave and up the walls. Vines shot out from around the fox and wrapped around his body until he was trapped, unable to move let alone speak.
But it wasn’t enough. He thought he knew pain? Sacrifice? I wanted him to feel what it was like to be the only one to save the worlds. The only one that was powerful enough to stop the Shadows. The claustrophobic feeling of being crushed on all sides that consumed me every night until all I dreamed about was ending it all.
Tick cried out as the vines squeezed him. His eyes filled with such utter terror, like he knew he was going to die and there was nothing he could do about it. The bad thing was I didn’t care.
“Stop.” Alice appeared next to me, her voice slow as if not to spook me. She placed her hand on my arm. “You are going to bring the whole cave down on top of us, and we still need him to get us into the palace. You can’t kill him, not now.” She rubbed my arm with soothing motions that only served to irritate me rather than soothe me.
I shrugged her hand off and spun on my heel. As I marched away from them, I pulled my magic with me, and the sound of Tick gasping for air sounded from behind me. Ignoring them, I headed toward the direction Tick had been leading us as I tried to get a grip on my anger and the never ending need to destroy something.
Being the savior wasn’t something I asked for. Hell, I hadn’t even wanted to be on the school council in high school, being in charge of things had never been something I was good at. I was more of a do my own thing kind of girl, not a ‘let’s be sure everyone else is alive and enjoying themselves’. It took major self-control just to keep my mouth shut and not tell them all to fuck off half the time, not that I didn’t let it slip out every once in a while.
Each step I took caused the ground to shake and small plant life to creep out of the dirt floor. I couldn’t seem to control my magic now that the floodgate had been opened. My heart was pounding in my ears, and I couldn’t even hear if Alice and Tick were following behind me. If I was more in my right mind I would have stopped to check, but my only thoughts were to keep moving so I didn’t completely break down.
The path Tick had been leading us down didn’t have any turns or forks. It went straight through the cave and ended at a dead end. Except it wasn’t a dead end. On the wall was a full-length mirror, not unlike those seen around the palace.
“Uh…Lady?” Alice’s hesitant voice reached out to me. My eyes searched for her through the mirror’s surface and waited for her to continue. “Your glamour is gone.”
Startled by her statement, my gaze fixated on my reflection.
She was right. In the midst of my fit, the glamour I had so meticulously held in place had melted away leaving me in my true form. Even the green of my eyes had been burned away and replaced with the raging blue of my Fae eyes.
The face that reflected back at me, terrified me more than the Shadows, more than losing Chess to the Bandersnatch, and more than death itself. The face looking back at me, while still my human face, made me frighteningly similar to the Seelie Queen.
It was like a punch to the stomach that caused all my anger to cool. My magic fizzled out and stopped sprouting around me. The icy glow to my eyes became just eyes again and sadness filled my heart.
What was I becoming? I wasn’t like her. I didn’t use my powers against others because I could. The Fae in me had been more than less dormant. Allowing me to have the best of being a magical creature without getting too power hungry. It seemed like the longer I was in the Underground the more I was losing control of myself, and I couldn’t have that.
Swallowing my despair, I turned to the two and almost cried at the looks on their face. I had put that fear there. It was me who had been this close to terrorizing them, just because I couldn’t control myself.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” Hugging my arms close, I chewed on my lip, my anger replaced with uncertainty.
“You should be!” Tick shouted, and then snapped his mouth shut as if afraid of what I would do for his outburst.
“Stop, please.” Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair, giving it a satisfying tug. It was so much better to be in my own skin with my own hair again. “I don’t want you to be afraid of me. That wasn’t supposed to happen.”
“What did happen, Lady?” Alice took a hesitant step forward, her glamour still in place, making the look on her face hard to decipher. “I’ve never seen you lose control like that.”
“It’s happened before.” My frown deepened as I remember the first time it happened.
It was the first time I’d had dinner with my family in a long time, and of course, that meant my mother was going to ride my ass the whole night. Luckily, Chess was there to act as a buffer, but that didn’t keep her from poking at sensitive subjects. When I lost my temper, my human body was still getting used to my powers, and couldn’t control the rush of magic that came with my anger.
The feeling of magic pouring out of me and into the earth, of creating new life just from myself was an overwhelming drunk feeling. I had felt invincible, like I could do anything. But magic had a cost, and if Chess hadn’t been there, I might have burned myself out completely. Maybe even died.
Alice being here might not have had the same effect as Chess, but she did keep me from killing not only me, but also someone else. I had to get a grip on myself, or I wouldn’t make it to the Shadows in one piece.
Shaking off the thoughts, I turned to Alice, “You might as well get rid of your glamour, Alice. The gig, as they say, is up.” I giggled at my own little joke, though it was kind of a pathetic attempt to lighten the mood.
“If you say so.” Alice pursed her lips and let her glamour go, revealing her normally blonde hair and blue dress. It seemed she was dead set on seeing Hatter again while dressed like her old self. Oh well, it was her thing, not mine.
“So then, Tick.” I turned to the mirror in front of me once more. “I’m assuming this is the entrance into the palace?”
“Yes.” His voice was stronger now, less fearful, but still cautious.
Ignoring the need to reassure him, I reached up to activate the mirror. My hand almost touched the frame when I stopped and spun around, my eyes narrowing on the fox.
“If you use a mirror to get into the palace, how do you activate it? You aren’t a half-breed.”
Alice’s eyes moved to Tick as well. There was something wrong, and it smelled like a fox.
“Well, you see…uh…” he stumbled over his words, his hands wringing in front of him. “The thing is…” his answer was cut off when his eyes darted to something behind me, he then pulled his watch out of his pocket and tapped the glass. “Oh look at the time. I must be getting back now. Bye!” Before I could stop him, he transformed back into a fox and darted back the way we came.
“What the hell was that about?” I asked Alice who was staring at something behind me with fear in her eyes. “Alice, what is it? What are you looking at?” My head turned to find what she was looking at only to be caught in the icy glare of the Seelie Queen.
“Daughter, how nice to see you again.”
Chapter 9
Compromise
THE SEELIE QUEEN stood in the frame of the mirror, an amused, but sharp stare protruding through the surface. Her white gown clung to her curves, almost translucent in the library’s light. It showed me more of my mother than I ever wanted to see. Her long white hair, the same shade as mine was piled on her head in a series of braids that gave the illusion of a crown.
She wasn’t alone in the library. At her back were at least half a dozen guards, all armed with their golden armor and shiny swords. They stood menacingly, waiting for her command. I wondered if they remembered what happened the last time they came up against me.
When my eyes scanned across them, a few of them flinched, and I tried not to smile. Good. They remembered.
&nbs
p; “Hello, Mother.” No need to be rude right off the bat. “We weren’t expecting you back so soon. We had hoped to surprise you.”
“Well, my dear cousin needed to be alone so I came rushing back here the moment I found out you were coming. You know your father isn’t very good at keeping secrets.” Her smile was nasty while her words were playing the polite game.
“I hope you weren’t too cross with him?” The warning in my voice was clear. She better not have hurt him or there would be hell to pay.
“Worried for your father now? You didn’t seem so the last time you were here.” She laughed and then placed a finger to her chin. “In fact, you didn’t seem to care about anyone but yourself and that half-breed. Now, why is that, I wonder?”
Sighing, I chanced a look at Alice who was cowering behind me. She seemed to be trying to make herself as small as possible. She wasn’t going to be any help as long as the queen was around. I might have instilled fear into the guards, but my mother still held the crown of Queen Bitch.
“The fox was yours I take it?” I chose to ignore her previous question, knowing that anything I said would just drive me into a deeper hole than I was already in.
“All Fae are mine, Daughter.” The implication in her voice that said even you was not lost on me. My nails bit into my hands as I tightened my fists to restrain my need to correct her. I ground my teeth together to keep from saying something that would set her off.
“I am not here to argue or fight, Mother. I want him back.”
“Who?” she pretended like she didn’t know what I was talking about for a moment, and then shook her head with a secret smile. “Oh, that feline. I don’t know why, he has done nothing but string you along, and then the moment you declared your love for him, he broke your heart. I would be a bad mother if I didn’t punish those who hurt my little girl.”
I fought back the laugh that threatened to come from my throat. Take care of those who hurt me? She was doing a bang up job on her own.
